Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

I bought this book for supplemental reading while taking a upper division course in epistemology. I referred to it while writing papers. The essay regarding Nozick's tracking theory was very helpful in one of my papers. After completing my course, I re-read the book. Following is my review.Prima facie the book gets a five start rating. However, the book has some short comings along with the content that is very good. It would be a very difficult task to write a short introduction of any subject that has its origins and roots tied to Plato (Theaetetus). It would be especially difficult since the subject matter has an on going debate to this day thanks to Gettier. My epistemology class was a ten week term meeting three times a week. That was thirty hours of study and lecture by a PhD philosopher. Our course content only hit the high notes of well known philosophers (Plato to Quine). So based on the scope and nature of A Short Introduction it gets five out of five stars.Not having a chapter on “The problem of Induction” and not mentioning David Hume is the only major short coming of this book.

I picked up Nagel's book as a little refresher of epistemology. It is well-written, clear, and Nagel explains the basics of epistemology. Given it is a very short introduction, Nagel just scratches the surface. There's a wonderful 'Further Reading' section at the end that gives sources for further study.

This little book deliver on its expectations, to give a very brief introduction on the topic of knowledge. Generally well written.

As a Professor in Philosophy I love this books mainly because they ever so lightly cover the topics enough to get even the most critical proponent of any kind of philosophical though enough to get their gears working and at the bare minimum a question implanted. Then they realize that most people have been a student of philosophy all their lives.

If the very sight of the word “epistemology” makes you quiver, give this terrific entry in the VSI series a go—you’ll come away steady as a rock. Or not 😄.

Excellent overview of the field of epistemology.

I am a researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence and started reading this book merely from my interest for "knowing". This is a very interesting read. Even if you think you know, you might want to reconsider that when the effect of your testimony might have tremendous effect- which pretty much is the summary of the book. It has several thought provoking examples and importantly discusses how skepticism haunts a knower.

This book is particularly well suited for female readers. Why, you ask? Well, let me point out that there were many points at which I was unable to identify with the viewpoint of the text, that viewpoint being female. Let us demonstrate this with some examples.p. 9 "the speaker is projecting herself into a past frame of mind ... the speaker is distancing herself from that frame of mind ..."p. 49 "Imagine a detective investigating a broad-daylight assault. She interviews a dozen witnesses ..."p. 55 "The person who is taken in by a very realistic holographic projection of a muffin isn't crazy ... she is being perfectly reasonable,even if what she believes is false or only coincidentally true."p. 67 "the subject has to be able to see something for herself, simply by reflection, or some form of immediate awareness"p. 78 "the local reductionist suggests that you look for specific positive reasons, in any given situation, to accept the word of the person you are hearing on the topic she is speaking about."et passimI find myself unable to relate to these uses of female pronouns as "generic" pronominal uses.

Hi Professor Nagel! I loved your course, PHL105Y, at UTM. Has anyone topped my 93 yet?This book is a great layman’s primer on Epistemology!

Detailed, accurate and wonderfully enjoyable read.

Excelente lectura tanto para el lector que inicia su formación en epistemología como para el investigador que busca formas diversas de expresar problemas básicos del área.

I am very fond of the VSI series. This book does justice to a fairly complex topic such as knowledge.

On the quality of the kindle version : the kindle version downloaded correctly and has no font issues which is awesome ;)On the book :Ms. Nagel did a tremendous job condensing a complex subject. This book is really easy to read which in no way reduces the quality of the content.